Scorpions can’t hang on

HESPERIA • For one quarter, the Hesperia boys basketball team played about as well as it could play.

The Scorpions controlled the low post. They prevented Ayala from establishing any rhythm on offense. And they ripped off a 19-2 run for the better half of the period.

Unfortunately for the Scorpions, they peaked during those first eight minutes.

Ayala quickly erased its early double-digit deficit, and Justin Scheerer scored on a buzzer-beating put back to lead the 15th-seeded Bulldogs to a 64-62 win Wednesday night at Hesperia in the first round of the CIF-SS Division 2A playoffs.

It was a heart-breaking loss for the Scorpions (17-7) considering the chaos that occurred in the final seconds. Hesperia called a timeout with 22.2 seconds remaining after Jared Ponce hit the second of two free throws to put Ayala up 61-58.

Hesperia coach Sergio Lugo drew up a play to free up senior Storm Vengas on the left wing. The play worked to perfection, and Vengas buried a wide-open 3 to tie the game with about 10 seconds on the clock.

The Bulldogs immediately took the inbounds and sped downcourt. They missed their first attempt, missed their second, but Scheerer's final try went through the hoop as time expired.

"Our kids kept good composure," Ayala coach Kenny Donavon said. "(They) pushed the ball down the court, and they just battled and put the tip in."

While Donavon enjoyed the rush of a hard-fought win, Lugo was left to wonder why his team couldn't replicate its opening dominance.

In that first quarter, the Scorpions scored 18 of their 21 points in the paint. Their ability to bully their way through the post seemed to catch Ayala (17-11) off guard. The Bulldogs rushed shots and offense and seemed to be out of sorts on both ends.

But as easily as Hesperia grabbed momentum, Ayala snatched it right back. The Bulldogs went on a 13-1 run to tie the game at 22 — neither team led by more than six the rest of the way.

"That's what we've done all year," Lugo said. "We get up a big lead and for some reason we become complacent, and we let leads get away. Then we struggle to try and finish things."

The two teams traded baskets for much of the second half with Ayala getting a boost from Andrew Ortiz, who scored 18 points after sitting out the first two quarters for disciplinary reasons.

The Scorpions were led offensively by center Aaron Alston's 12 points in the second half. Alston finished with a team-high 18.

The two teams finally separated when Ayala went on an 8-2 run to turn a 52-52 tie into a 60-52 advantage. Hesperia crept back within striking distance at 60-57 with less than a minute to go, but then mental breakdown from Alston cost the Scorpions.

Alston fouled Ayala's Darius Tucker about 30 feet from the basket with 39.8 seconds left. Tucker made one free throw to make it a two-possession game.

"I don't know what my guy was thinking — I don't understand," Lugo said. "I mean that's a big possession. That's an extra point they got that they shouldn't have had. It would have changed the strategy big time."

Hesperia still made one final push and tied the game, but the Scorpions couldn't keep Ayala off the offensive glass in the final series.

A tough way to lose, but that doesn't detract from a season that saw Hesperia claim its second Mojave River League championship in a row.

"You know we weren't picked to win league," Lugo said. "And to win the league, win 17 ball games and defend our title and win back-to-back championships which has never happened at Hesperia High School, it was a great season."